Ventus Gaming has announced via Facebook that the matter has now been resolved.

We just want to assure all concerned parties that the issues regarding payment of Mettlestate winnings has been resolved with all of the players. It was never the intention to keep the money and sponsored equipment have been returned by the players. We want to assure everyone that our contracts will be updated to ensure this does not happen again.

Our contracts are the standard as set out by Telkom Tribunal officers for all MGOs participating in their Masters programme. We will however in the future ensure that the players understand what the contracts entail and take extra measures to clarify each section.

**END OF UPDATE**

Over this past weekend, allegations were drawn against Ventus Gaming over non-payment to players. The accusations appear to originate from their ex-CS:GO team which played – and placed eighth – in the Mettlestate Galaxy CS:GO Championship.

The team secured R60,000 for the placing but weeks after the event and a few days after payment from the organisers, the ex-players are awaiting their fee. Under the Ventus Gaming contract:

So broadly speaking, that means, the players are well within their rights to expect their payment – unless there is something written between the two parties elsewhere. However, Ventus Gaming owner Pieter Venter and the management team have stated that they are withholding the payment until the ex-players return their loan gear:

Some players have resigned from the team, prior to the contractual end date and are refusing to return the sponsored equipment as stipulated by the enclosed section of the contract. It is an impossible and difficult situation as Ventus will have to compensate for this if the players keep refusing to return the equipment.

They are citing their contract which states the following:

Although Ventus has the power to initiate fines (see annexure A), we are in no way intending to do this in this specific situation. However, we need to reach an appropriate agreement before any money can be paid to players. We are hoping this can be resolved through the appropriate channels as soon as possible. We are therefore awaiting instructions from the tribunal officer and will suggest that if this can’t be resolved soon, that we pay the monies into a trust fund operated by the tribunal officer, for complete transparency.

What is perhaps a little bizarre is that the statement refers to Telkom DGL fines and tribunal officer. The issue is clearly not the responsibility of Telkom (or VS Gaming) DGL. It’s clearly an issue with the contract itself and the parties involved.

The MGO is seemingly leveraging the outstanding money in exchange for return of the gear. The bottom line is that we’re now all watching a situation evolve in the public realm when both parties need to perhaps simply do their part – Ventus should pay their (ex) players and the players need to return the gear.

And once that is done, go and get a proper contract in place that prevents this from happening again – as this sort of thing does more harm than good for our growing esports scene locally.